I Guess Clichés Aren't So Bad After All - One Shot
by Lady Xana
Summary: Sara goes to a pub to unwind after work and a certain tall, beautiful and talented blonde catches her eye. Tags: #fluff #first meetings #cute #oneshot


**AN: Hey there! So I had this idea for a series of fluffy, cute, angsty and sometimes smutty one-shots that I will try to start writing and posting from time to time. Hope you enjoy it :)**

**EDIT: I fixed some grammar mistakes and added some words that were missing.**

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**I Guess Clichés Aren't So Bad After All **

It's around ten in the night when Sara reaches the Waverider, the English pub located close to her place of work. She has been there a few times before for a couple of drinks with some of her co-workers. The drinks are considerably cheap and the ambiance is quite chill. The perfect place to spend a quiet time after a particularly rough shift at work like the one from today; at least in her opinion. Besides she likes the whole steampunk décor the pub has and she actually gets along well with the owner, an English man named Rip Hunter, who also serves as a bartender there from time to time. Mostly at Fridays, which is the current case.

And then there's also the fact that the pub has a band playing at least three nights a week, and tonight is no exception. She can already here the jazzy tunes sounding throughout the place.

She walks further inside, looking around to the people around inside. Some are faces she already knows them to be current costumers, others she can tell are fresh from the way they admire the originality that comes with the decoration of the place. I mean, there's even a model of what she believes is a spaceship even though Rip has already reminded her a million times before that it's a **_timeship_**, not a spaceship. Sara actually knows what it is. She simply enjoys riling up the poor man, that's all.

As soon as she reaches the bar counter she signals at him, a small smile on her freckled face. He returns the smile while he approaches her, "One of those nights eh?"

Sara nods, sighing lightly, "You could call it that," she tells him before sitting down on a stool near the entrance.

"The usual?"

"You know it Rip."

"Right away Miss Lance," he answers with a wink, grabbing a bottle of his finest whiskey to pour her a glass. Once he's done he places the drink in front of her on top of a coaster. He is always very adamant on preserving his precious dark wood vinyl counter-top.

Sara raises the glass and tilts it in the man's direction. "Cheers!" She says before gulping it down in one go.

Rip raises his light eyebrows at her, "It must have been a rough night indeed."

She shrugs her shoulders at his remarks, "Told you," she says followed by a smack of the lips.

"Now pour me another one will you," the blonde woman asks pushing the glass in his direction; along with the coaster of course.

"Very well…" he nods, pouring her another glass. After a couple of seconds he places the drink in front of her once again.

Sara immediately wraps her hand around it and is about to gulp it down one more time when Rip's voice stops her, "Just don't forget to take it easy Sara. You know the pub doesn't close until one in the morning."

An offended look passes through her face before she plasters a forced smile on her lips, shooting the man a quick sarcastic question, "Afraid I'm gonna drink all your good whisky?"

He shakes his head, followed by a light chuckle, "Suit yourself."

Sara nods and repeats her previous actions. The drink in her hands is gone in a minute.

"You can make it a third!" She calls after him. He tells her to wait while he attends to another costumer.

Sara blows a raspberry, "A dry glass is no fun…" she mutters to the empty recipient. When she feels like Rip is taking too long to come to her 'aid', she calls for the other guy helping at the bar. His name is Barry, she thinks. She's not sure. All she knows is that the man is a total nerd and tries way too hard to be liked, which usually annoys her a lot.

But since she is desperately in need for another shot of the sweet amber liquid, she decides it's worth it to put up with him.

"Hey there!" He greets with a big and goofy smile, "What can I get you tonight?"

She sighs, "Just another shot of your finest whiskey please."

"One shot of whiskey coming right away!" He chirps while grabbing the bottle to serve Sara. After he's done he speaks again. Goofy smile still plastered in his face, "Enjoy your drink!"

"Thanks Barry."

He laughs a bit nervously, "It's actually Gary."

She narrows her eyes at him, "What was that?"

The man stutters a bit before answering, "My name is Gary, not… Not Barry."

A look of realization falls on Sara's voice, "Oh right… Sorry about that."

Gary smiles again, "No problem!"

Sara nods at him and turns her attention back to the glass, this time sipping on her drink slowly.

The nerdy guy stands in front of Sara staring a couple of seconds at her before she sends him a threatening look, "Don't you have other costumers to go talk to?"

He snaps right out of his trance, "Yes! Of course… Sorry!" He stutters again before being gone.

Sara shakes her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. She can already feel a headache coming… But at least she will be able to sleep in seeing as Saturday is right around the corner.

She opens her eyes again and leans her head over the counter, looking for Rip who is apparently nowhere to be found.

Her brown eyebrows dip into a frown before she eventually lets it go, settling back into her stool. A couple of minutes pass when suddenly the band that was playing stops.

She turns her head to look at the small stage and her eyes land on Rip. His hands are on the mic and he holds it close to his mouth.

_"Oh please don't tell me he's gonna sing… Not again. I can't take another session of 'Careless Whisper'." _Sara thinks to herself before laying her head on top of the counter.

The man clears his throat, "Welcome to the Waverider ladies and gentlemen!" He greets, gaining a few whistles and cheers from the crowd.

"I hope you're enjoying yourselves so far, especially with the wonderful band we've had the pleasure of having here tonight! How about a round of applause for the **Visions of Gideon** eh?" He continues and the crowd does as they are told.

"That's what I'm talking about!" He claps along, waiting for the costumers to settle once again. When there's silence he decides to proceed.

"But that's not all," Rip tells them with an amused smile, "Because tonight we have a very special surprise on stage… My dear and talented friend, Ava, is going to give us the pleasure of watching her perform for the very first time on this stage! Along with this wonderful band, of course!"

Sara raises her eyebrows, not very convinced of the woman's supposed talent. Especially if she's anything like Rip. Hopefully she will have better taste in music than he usually does.

He motions to someone off stage and a few beats go by before this mysterious woman finally appears, and when she does, Sara decides that even if she ends up singing like crap, at least she's easy on the eyes.

A tall and tanned figure, blonde mermaid hair and legs that go on for days? Sign her up already! Her night just got a whole lot better and it certainly isn't due to the whiskey.

Her eyes never leave the woman. Sara takes her time to study her. She is slightly shaking when she takes the mic from Rip's hands and doesn't seem to be much at ease on top of a stage. If Sara had to take a guess, she would even consider this to be her first time in front of an audience.

The woman's gaze wanders through the room before they land on the bar and finally on Sara. The latter smirks and raises her glass at her, followed by an encouraging nod.

The tall blonde smiles shyly and ducks her head down, leaving a strange but light feeling on Sara's chest.

After a second she turns her eyes to the crowd once again and grabs the mic on her hands more firmly.

"Good evening everyone!" She greets with a bright smile and Sara feels almost blinded by it.

"Rip here finally convinced me to give this a try so here I am… I guess this means I really have no sense of self-preservation," she says with a chuckle, which is followed by laughs from some of the people at the pub.

"Anyways… Let's just do this before I regret it," the tall blonde adds turning for a moment to discuss something with the members of the band who can be seen nodding at her words.

She then turns back to the crowd. Some shushing sounds can be heard around before silence settles around the room. The band starts to play the first tune to a song and Sara quickly recognizes which one, rolling her eyes.

_"Seriously? 'Everybody Hurts' by R.E.M.?! What a fricking cliché… Just what I needed tonight."_

Sara sighs and signals to Gary, "Could you bring the check?" She asks, already taking her wallet off.

His smile drops, "Oh… You're not going to stick around to hear Ava sing?"

"Not really in the mood to-" She cuts herself off when the tall blonde starts the song's first words, and slowly turns to look at her once again. Sara's whole body turns its attention to the woman, mesmerized by what's in front of it.

She goes through the first sentences effortlessly, like she has been born to sing and nothing more. To simply stand on a stage and let mere mortals like Sara appreciate her angelical voice. And yes, **_angelical _**is the right word – the only word that makes it justice – Sara is sure of it.

Gary calls for her, trying to get her attention but Sara can't ever hear him. All she cares about at the moment, all she cares to hear at the moment is this Ava woman singing.

And so she does, she stands as still as she can and tries to memorize every way the tall blonde's body is moving with the music. The way her brows dip when certain words are pronounced, the way her hands clutch to the mic on certain higher notes and the small smile that appears on her lips from time to time.

Sara wants to engrave it all on her mind, so she can have another precious thing to get her through her bad days.

After a few minutes she starts to realize the song is almost over and an uneasiness settles on her stomach, but alas, it doesn't last long.

Because before it all comes to an end Ava opens her eyes and stares directly at Sara, a confident smirk on her face followed by a wink.

This time Sara is the one blushing, being taken by surprise. How can this angel of a woman pay any attention to a wretch like her?

The song finally ends followed by loud cheers and clapping from the audience, leaving a wide smile on the tall blonde's face who simply thanks them before climbing off stage.

The band returns to their usual tunes and the pub is again surrounded by a jazzy vibe.

"Hello?" Gary calls, waving his hand in front of Sara's face, "Earth to… Sara right?"

She turns her face to the man and swats his hand away, "The hell dude?"

He holds his hands up with an apologetic look, "Sorry! I was just wondering if you enjoyed Ava's singing."

She looks down at her almost empty glass, "Yeah, she's…" she clears her throat, her voice sounding way too strained for her liking, "She is pretty good."

A wide grin appears on his face, "She is amazing! Too bad she's too shy to sing more often…"

Sara nods and gulps down the rest of her drink, "Another one Gary."

"Hey you finally learned my name, cool!"

The blonde sighs, "Will you please just serve me my bloody drink?"

He quickly nods and gets to it, smiling when he's done. His smile gets even bigger when he spots a person coming their way.

"Ava!" He calls after her, waving her over. The blonde smiles back and walks closer to the pair, sitting down on the stool next to Sara.

"Hey! Wow, I can't believe I just did that!" She says excitedly, "I'm still shaking from the adrenaline."

"Can I get you something to drink?" He offers, before leaning closer to whisper in her ear, "Rip said not to charge you today if you finally got on stage, which you did! Yay! So you know, go wild!" He ends with a shake of his hands.

"Ahah! I appreciate that Gary, but just give me the usual. You know I'm a woman of habit."

"Sure thing!" He tells her before turning around, "Another glass of whiskey coming right up!"

Ava looks at him with a puzzled look, "Another?!"

Sara smirks and turns around to be face to face with the tall blonde, "I think he's talking about me," she says while raising her own glass.

"Oh… I see," Ava smirks back, "I guess we both have pretty good taste then," she says before thanking Gary for the drink, sighing happily as the liquid goes down her throat.

"It seems that way… You were pretty good up there by the way."

The taller blonde eyes widen with surprise and for the first time Sara can really see how beautiful they look up close. A mix of grey, blue and even green? She can't really decipher, but she does conclude that they are no doubt the most beautiful ones she has ever seen.

"Do you really think so?" Ava asks with a voice tainted by insecurity and Sara can't believe how that can be. Doesn't this woman hear herself singing?

"I do. You have a beautiful voice," Sara nods, "Even though that choice of song was a total cliché," she adds with mischief in her eyes.

"Wow!" Ava reacts in feigned offense, a playful smile on her lips betraying her, "Do you always give such backhanded compliments like that one?"

"I actually try to do it twice a day!" The smaller blonde retorts, sipping on her whiskey.

"I see…" the singer nods, taking a sip of her drink as well.

"I'm Sara by the way," Sara tells her, offering an extended hand. The woman smiles at her and takes the blonde's hand in hers, "Ava! But you probably already knew that - because Rip said it - on the stage. God I'm making a fool of myself," she admits, ducking her head shyly after her rambling, "I'm just going to shut up now…" She adds before hiding her crimson cheeks behind a sip of her whiskey and Sara can't help but find it endearing. So much so that she catches herself reaching a hand out to rest it on the woman's wrist, tracing the soft skin there with her thumb.

"Hey, it's okay," Sara gently tells her, "I get it. You're probably still nervous from singing in front of all these people, which by the way loved your performance. But yeah, I'm sure it wasn't easy," she offers with a kind smile, "I for one know I could never do it."

Ava chances a glance at Sara's hand on her wrist before looking up with a thankful smile on her lips, "Thank you."

They hold each other's gaze for a while until a voice interrupts them.

"Ah I see you two have met!" Rip cheerfully says, "Wasn't she absolutely marvelous Sara? I kept pushing Ava to grace us with her wonderful voice but she always turned it down. I'm glad she finally did it!" He says with a big smile on his face.

"Yeah! I was just telling her how much I enjoyed it."

Ava playfully scoffs at her words, "Even though she basically called me a cliché," she tells him, rolling her eyes with a small smirk playing on her lips.

Sara chuckles lightly, "Well, I'll have to admit though… It sure beats listening to Rip's version of '_Careless Whisper'_," she adds along with a giggle.

The taller blonde laughs along, "I know right? Imagine having to hear it at every God damn birthday party or karaoke night. I should have already developed some sort of immunity to it by now."

At that point both women are uncontrollably laughing, so lost in their own little world that Rip eventually decided it was best to leave them alone.

They talk about themselves, about what kind of hobbies they have, with Sara finding herself wanting to know everything that Ava is passionate about besides music. She learns that the blonde works as a Veterinarian on a clinic located on the vicinities of the city. Ava explains that even though she loves both cats and dogs, she prefers to have a cat as a pet because she finds it easier to take care of which leaves her with more free time to work on her music outside of work. She even showed her some pics of her cat; he is a split faced tortoiseshell named Harvey Dent. Which lead her to know that Ava is also a comic books fan such as Sara.

The freckled woman also tells her a little bit of herself. She talks about her commitment and passion for Martial Arts, explaining to Ava that she has been training ever since she was a little girl, making her own several black belts.

Time flies by and they don't even realize it until the room is almost empty and Rip has started to clean his precious counter.

After he is done he clears his throat to get their attention, an amused smirk on his lips, "Well ladies, I'm afraid it's time to close."

Ava's face turns into a small pout and Sara can't help but smile adoringly at her, "Oh, already?"

"I will give you a little bit of time while I go outside for a smoke," he nods at them before walking in the direction of the back door.

"What a shame," Sara admits, a smirk playing on her lips, "What do you say we exchange numbers?"

The other woman's pout turns into a bright smile, "Yeah… I would like that, very much."

It takes only a minute or so to save the contact of one another before they put their phones away, but even after that they still don't move from their seats.

"You know I-"

"Sara I-"

They cut each other off by speaking at the same time, both chuckling at the situation.

"Sorry…" Sara says, "You go first."

Ava smiles shyly at her, "I was just going to say that I had a really good time."

The smaller blonde puts on a lopsided grin, "Funny… You seem to have taken the words right out of my mouth, Ava…" Sara husks out, leaving a trail of goosebumps on the other woman's skin, "And yet, our lips didn't even touch…"

Sara knows that it is very bold of her to come up with such a line - and she doesn't know if it's just all the whiskey talking – but she really, **_really_**, does not want to say goodbye to Ava just yet.

The taller blonde doesn't reply right away, looking slightly like a dear caught in the headlights. Sara is about to start internally cursing herself for probably having ruined this – _something _– between them, when Ava finally speaks.

"You know…" She whispers, leaning in closer to Sara, "I have a really great bottle of scotch at home that I have been saving for an important occasion…"

The smaller woman's heart flutters at the feeling of Ava so close to her. Her eyes fall on her plump and inviting lips before returning to the beautiful azure orbs in front of her. She swallows before finding her voice again, "Oh yeah?"

Ava nods and steps out of her stool, holding her hand out for Sara to take, "My apartment is just around the block, care to keep me some company?"

Sara grins at her before taking her hand, holding it gently in hers, "It will be a pleasure."

The taller blonde's lips turn into a big smile before brushing her thumb on the freckled woman's knuckles,

"Not too much of a cliché for you?" Ava asks once they're outside, earning her a throaty laugh from Sara.

"I guess clichés aren't so bad after all," Sara admits with a smirk before pulling the other blonde down for a chaste kiss.

Ava giggles happily when they part, giving her a quick peck on the lips, "It's good to know."

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**AN: Happy reading? I hope so! Feel free to leave a comment :)**


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